UPDATE 5-BlackBerry may put itself up for sale

TORONTO Aug 12 (Reuters) - Struggling smartphone maker
BlackBerry Ltd is weighing options that could
include an outright sale, it said on Monday, and its largest
shareholder is stepping down from its board to avoid any
possible conflict of interest.

BlackBerry, which pioneered mobile email with its first
smartphones and email pagers, said on Monday it had set up a
committee to review its options, sparking a debate over whether
Canada's one-time crown jewel is more valuable as a whole or
snapped up piece by piece by competitors or private investors.

The company said Prem Watsa, whose Fairfax Financial
Holdings Ltd is BlackBerry's biggest shareholder, was
leaving the board as BlackBerry determines its next steps.

Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper said Fairfax was talking
to industry and private equity players about possibility taking
BlackBerry private. Fairfax did not respond to requests for
comment.

Other potential buyers of BlackBerry assets, if not the
company itself, could include deep-pocketed Canadian pension
funds, as well as some of its rivals.

BlackBerry, once a stock market darling, has bled market
share to Apple Inc and phones using Google Inc's
Android operating system, and its new BlackBerry 10
smartphones have failed to gain traction with consumers.

BlackBerry shares rose more than 10 percent to $10.78 in New
York and C$11.13 in Toronto in afternoon trading. But the shares
remain well below their levels in June, before the company
reported dismal results that included poor sales of the
BlackBerry 10 that it viewed as key to a turnaround.
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